PCUSA’s ‘social conscience’ skews data
The Layman June 2004 Volume 37, Number 2, June 2, 2004
The Advisory Committee on Social Witness Policy, supposedly the social conscience of the Presbyterian Church (USA), turned in a shoddy report to the 215th General Assembly – and the commissioners bought it hook, line and sinker.
The ACSWP report targeted private prisons, alleging that they were inherently corrupt, treated inmates badly, were rife with violence and escapes and were far inferior to government-run prisons.
Upon further investigation, it turns out that ACSWP was using selective data – and virtually none from private prisons or independent studies that show that private prisons save the taxpayers money and perform as well or better than government when it comes to humane treatment of prisoners and other major factors.
Evidence that was ignored
The whistleblower on the ACSWP report is a Presbyterian elder by the name of John Ferguson, the president and chief executive officer of Correction Corporation of America, the nation’s largest private prison company. (See story)
But don’t take Ferguson’s word for the situation. He sent the denomination a copy of a lengthy Harvard Law Review assessment. It concluded that private prisons are doing as well or better than public prisons.
Ferguson also registered a complaint in a letter to Stated Clerk Clifton Kirkpatrick. He was not invited by ACSWP to tell the other side of the story, so he invited Kirkpatrick to take a look at a private prison himself. In response, Kirkpatrick noted that he was sending Ferguson’s complaint to ACSWP but didn’t accept Ferguson’s invitation.
There is a moral to this story. Based on many of its efforts, ACSWP follows a skewed compass. It gleaned much of its data about private prisons – always referring to them as “for-profit prisons” as if profit itself is evil – from government prison unions. For instance, it berated private prisons for spending money to lobby government. But it didn’t mention that prison unions spend much more money for the same purpose.
An embarrassing report
In sum, the ACSWP report is an embarrassment for a denomination that used to pride itself on faithful and intellectual exploration of issues. But it was true to form. Previously, ACSWP reports on living in a pluralistic society suggested that Jesus is merely one of many gods; on euthanasia suggested that Jesus may have committed suicide; and on families suggested that there’s no difference between same-sex couples and a man and a woman in marriage. Previous General Assemblies discarded those absurdities.
Now ACSWP is back with a revised version of its paper on families. Advice to commissioners: Read the small print.